Welcome to our blog. Over the next few weeks we’re going to be writing about movie ratings and how these rated categories affect our lives. In the interest of full disclosure, we are a group in a BYU media literacy class and this blog is our class project. We were assigned to create some sort of media presentation that adressed a media issue we felt strongly about. We chose movie ratings because, as BYU students and Mormons, movie ratings play a large part in our lives and the general culture of our church.

For example, church culture often dictates that rated “R” movies are bad, off-limits. On the other hand, many people we know seem to think that as long as a movie is not an “R” it’s okay to watch. There are many more attitudes as well, ranging from a complete shunning of the rating system to rationalizations based on differing rating scales in different countries. And, with the advent of movies edited for content, the issue is clouded even further.

What we’re interested in is how well ratings actually warn against offensive content, and, here’s where things might get controversial, how do we determine exactly which content is offensive? Are there universal standards, or should we make our own choices? Can a movie be uplifting and appropriate even if it’s rated “R”? Can a “PG” movie be spiritually damaging?

These are the questions we’re going to explore. The format we’ll use is simple. Group members will post their feelings about movies we’ve seen. Everything we discuss will be filtered through the content, how it affected us and of course, the rating. Please feel free to make comments (helpful, insightful ones, not standard Daily Universe-style holier-than-thou stuff please).